Beast - Jäger ohne Gnade

Die Spannung kommt früh und effektvoll, das Survival-Drama-Potenzial funktioniert solide bis zum Ende. Eine gute Arbeit mit dem Milieu und den digitalen Tieren. Es ist sympathisch, dass die Filmemacher zugeben, dass sie sich von Jurassic Park inspirieren ließen (die Figuren, die im Jeep stecken geblieben sind). Und Idris Elba passt zu dem Film perfekt. Das Ultra-Klischee "eine kaputte Familie kommt sich in einer extremen Situation näher" hat mich nicht gestört, es geht ja um ein Genre-Häppchen, das dank der Spannung in einem exotischen Milieu unterhaltsam ist. Schade, dass es in dem Film ab und zu unsinnige Dinge gibt. Nicht viele, aber das intensive und technisch hochwertige Abenteuer hätte auf sie trotzdem verzichten können. (29.09.2022)

Idris Elba and his daughters encounter a lion in the middle of the African wilderness. They fight it for an hour, supporting characters die, and then what you expect happens. Beast is a cookie-cutter thriller that impresses primarily because of its cinematography and long takes, but certainly not with the story, which doesn't stray off the beaten track for a second. It's not bad, but I can't really think of a reason to send anyone to see it. As a thriller, Beast doesn't have much to offer. (17.08.2022)

A decent survival flick with lions in the Savannah. If you accept the fact that Beast is a horror B-movie with no higher ambitions, serving only as a survival action/thriller with a bloodthirsty lion, it can be reliably enjoyed. If you start addressing the script – is anyone really addressing the script here? really? Only an intellectual brat can expect twists and turns and a compelling plot here. That sometimes someone doesn't act logically? Well, kids don't think, they act, and not everyone is logical, so I find these criticisms completely silly and irrelevant, but back to the film. It starts slower and gradually introduces us to the main characters. I appreciate the fact that there are not a bunch of stupid teenagers, but a family with a father and two daughters, whom the viewer can root for far more than annoying teens, plus Idris Elba is a likeable doctor, so he knows what to do in a situation like this probably more than any of the grumbling viewers, and Sharlto Copley as a zoologist and their guide (his dialogues about nature and animals are informative and fine) hugging with the lions is just great. Once the first encounter with El Diabolo takes, the real survival fun begins. The lion has great CGI, so that's a big plus (no one wants those rubber and plush animals seen in other similar movies), and he plays his role as villain perfectly. His entrance is scary and uncomfortable, he looks properly bad ass and they quite smartly explain why he does what he does, which I wasn't expecting. I also enjoyed the great visuals, the beautiful cinematography rounding off the African landscape there could have been more animals, I was hoping for a crocodile but was pleased with the snake at least), decent music, decent action (the scene with the poachers is pretty atmospheric), plenty of suspense and a few brutal shots (mutilated people), had there been some severed limbs I would have been very happy. The finale is a nice build up to 4 stars for me. An awesome intense duel that is brutal and raw (I thought of The Revenant right away) and a pretty clever ending. Beast is similar to Aja's Crawl, and anyone who loves animal horror like I do (if they are crafted with skill of course) should have little to complain. I was a bit disappointed with the music from the trailer, which wasn't in the film after all, I was looking forward to it, it sounded properly creepy. Beast meets those basic criteria, and that's enough for me, because genre films like this come out barely once a year. 7/10 (17.08.2022)

Der erfahrene isländische Regisseur Baltasar Kormákur bringt ein sehr gelungenes und auf hohem Niveau gedrehtes Genre-Stück mit einer einfachen Prämisse, aber einer umso effektiveren Umsetzung. Es zielt nicht besonders hoch ab und funktioniert eigentlich gut in allem, was es versucht. Wenn man vor ein paar Jahren Filme wie Ajin: Demi-Human genießen konnte, könnte das etwas für einen sein. Und gute Horrorfilme über jagende Tiere sind ansonsten auch nicht so verbreitet. (10.08.2022)

Wie wilde Tiere bietet neben dem älteren The Shallows - Gefahr aus der Tiefe und Crawl eine andere Welt und ein anderes Raubtier, und es steht auf Augenhöhe mit den oben erwähnten Tierhorrorfilmen. Die Bilder der Löwen sind wirklich beeindruckend, ebenso wie die Aufnahmen der Wildnis bei Tag und Nacht. Obwohl der Zuschauer von Anfang an weiß, wie der Film enden wird, ist es den Filmemachern gelungen, mich fast die ganze Zeit über in Atem zu halten. Was mich an Wie wilde Tieregestört hat, waren das Verhalten und die (dummen) Entscheidungen einiger Figuren. (20.08.2022)

Kormákur has always struck me as a more or less competent director who doesn't really care what he's making. This time, however, Beast is just a sometimes unbearably silly B-movie, where you might still enjoy the ultra-long shots that the film is composed of and how difficult they must have been to execute, assuming you could tell they were difficult to execute. Instead, virtually any potential technical problem in a scene is solved here with post-production effects or scenes made entirely of CGI, which of course look terrible. Idiotic B-movies can be fun in that you occasionally think "how the hell did they do that?", "how many times did they have to shoot that?", or "I'm surprised that actor didn't get hurt." When the challenges are solved by computer, all that's left is the idiocy. (13.11.2022)